


Rules to Live By

by tuesdaycoming



Series: Wilde Week 2020 [7]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: A Wilde Week 2020 (Rusty Quill Gaming), Character Study, Gen, Wilde and his Mother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:15:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesdaycoming/pseuds/tuesdaycoming
Summary: Must a man have a childhood? Can it not be six rules a boy learns at his mother’s knee?
Series: Wilde Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015858
Comments: 5
Kudos: 12
Collections: A Wilde Week 2020





	Rules to Live By

**Author's Note:**

> Wilde Week Day 7- Day 7 - “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” Truth | Lies | Omissions
> 
> This is a poem that got out of hand, but Wilde Week couldn't go out any other way.

Must a man have a childhood? Can it not be six rules a boy learns at his mother’s knee and holds close to his chest for the rest of his life? Can it be the words that burrow into him and shape his silvered tongue in ways she never meant, could not have foreseen, but still would not regret for how far they’ve taken him? This boy, her boy, wide eyed child looking up at her with trust, who commits these rules to memory, over and over until when he thinks of his mother it is only these rules in a lilting Irish voice whispered in his ear. He will forget her face. He will tell people it is a lot like his own. 

1\. Find three details to hold in your mind. The first, you will be asked for. Volunteer the second. Hold the third to roll your eyes at the telling of. 

2\. You must never be angry. Insults, to an honest man, mean nothing. No matter how hard they strike you, you are above them. 

3\. Let them meet your eyes. Let them see mischief there; let them see what they like reflected back to them. Hold their gaze for three seconds, no more. 

4\. Bad lies are rehearsed. The best, are remembered. Ah, you will say, of course. How could I forget? 

5\. If you are good enough, your lies will become the truth. Say nothing you cannot live with the reality of. 

6\. When you are powerful enough, anyone who does not believe you is a fool. Make them understand that, and you can tell them anything. 

He'll be fine. He'll be fine. He'll be fine.


End file.
